Viral Socialism

I don't think it is just at the pool that people who were already enthusiastic about broader government powers see a public health scare as an opportunity to narrow the scope of behavior that is private, i.e. independent of government control. People are now discussing a chain of stimulus bills to incentivize people to remain idle.

Right wing radio conglomerate NPR ran a story about a café on the eastern seaboard that opened only a few months ago. It had hundreds of applicants for jobs that paid more than $10 per hour. Until the shut-down orders, it was doing well. As the restrictions lift, the owner wonders how she can hire anyone back in the face of an unemployment benefit of $600 per week, a benefit that is more than she can pay in the sort of depressed areas that would draw hundreds of applicants for a $10+ position. She reports that her employees were excellent and happy, but she understands that it isn't reasonable to expect her people to come back to work for less than they make doing nothing.